Vatican releases postage stamps on Reformation, St.
Francis of Sales
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| The €1.00 postage stamp on the Protestant Reformation that the Vatican released on Nov.23, 2017.- RV |
The Vatican on Thursday released two new postage stamps to
commemorate the 500 years of the Protestant Reformation in
October, and the 450th anniversary of the birth of Saint Francis de
Sales in August.
Reformation
The Vatican Philatelic Office that released the stamps
explained that the €1 stamp on the 5th centenary of the Reformation, marked on
October 31, 2017, “depicts in the foreground Jesus crucified and in the
background a golden and timeless view of the city of Wittenberg,” where on the
church door Martin Luther put up his 95 theses on October 31, 1517, marking the
start of the Reformation.
In the stamp, Martin Luther is depicted on the left side of
the Cross, kneeling in “a penitential disposition” and holding “the Bible,
source and destination of his doctrine”. On the other side is “Philipp
Melanchthon, theologian and friend of Martin Luther, one of the main protagonists
of the reform,” who is holding the “’Augsburg Confession’ (Confessio
Augustana), the first official public presentation of the principles of
Protestantism written by him.”
Division
The 16th Protestant Reformation triggered the second major
split within Christianity, after the Great Schism of 1054 that split the
followers of Christ into Eastern Orthodoxy and Western Catholicism. But
after Vatican Council II, the Church has taken up the cause of unity among
Christians as a prime mission. Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis
has been involved in fresh efforts in this regard.
Pope Francis and Protestant Reformation
Last year, he travelled to Sweden on
October 31 to join Lutheran leaders for a
common commemoration of the Protestant Reformation in the Lutheran
Cathedral of Lund, kicking off a yearlong celebration that concluded
on Oct. 31, 2017. Part of that commemoration included Lutherans and
Catholics signing a joint statement pledging to pursue their
dialogue in order to remove the remainding obstacles that hinder them from
reaching full unity. They also stressed their commitment to common
witness on behalf of the poor, the needy and the victims of injustice.
Francis of Sales
The other postage stamp of €2.55 celebrates the birth of
St. Francis of Sales on August 21, 1567 in the French border
town of Haute-Savoieon,. The portrait of the Bishop of Geneva in
stained glass window style is depicted with a pen in his hand, as he regarded
the patron of writers and journalists. The Philatelic Office said the saint
“lived his ministry with a strong will to save the Church of Rome from
the Calvinist Reformation” in the 17th century. “It is for
the love of God that he brought back to communion with the Catholic Church many
of the faithful who had separated themselves from it.”
120,000 copies have been printed of each stamp. The
Vatican’s Philatelic and Numismatic Office (UFN) is responsible for issuing
Vatican postal stamps and Euro coins. The office was established in 1929,
issuing its first stamps that year featuring the image of Pope Pius XI.
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